Discovery Channel’s ‘Life’ Series Picks Up Where ‘Planet Earth’ Left Off — Only With More Animals

During his introduction for the New York premiere of “Challenges of Life,” the first episode of the Discovery Channel’s 11-part series “Life,” at Alice Tully Hall last night, Discovery Communications CEO David M. Zaslav promised the audience that they were going to be bowled over by a series of “wow moments.” And after a number of self-congratulatory remarks, they were.

Narrated by Oprah Winfrey — whom Zaslav said asked to do the series’ voice-overs (presumably, no one says no to Oprah) — the series is essentially a follow-up to the high-def, and highly acclaimed, nature series “Planet Earth.” A documentary project four years in the making, and shot over 3,000 days by 80+ cameramen, the episodes expose viewers to not only startling close-ups of familiar sights, such as Venus flytraps at work or cheetahs stalking ostriches, but also less known critters, such as the stalk-eyed fly, which literally has the ability to gulp down air upon birth and redirect it towards it’s long, elongated eyes. (Suffice to say, the fly’s eye-stalk length is directly correlated to the number of mates he has access to.)

Audience members — which included Discovery reality stars such as Buddy Valastro of “Cake Boss” and Kate Gosselin of the now seriously defunct “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ — also cooed at motherly signs of affection between frogs and gasped when mother nature was allowed to run its course. Paired with a performance by the New York Pops, who played the episode’s score live on stage, the evening served as an appropriately sized introduction for the series’ launch on March 21.

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.